Summer Impossible Calendar

     It seems that everyone has taken a turn at the impossible card. I decided to try it out as well. It seemed the perfect place to put a calendar. I have been making a special treat of directions for a calendar using the leftovers from the four cards made in my Seasons Greetings class - a bonus. 

     I have to say: this is another card base that is easy to construct. My fave directions, which I used to make this, can be found here. The directions on Maymay's blog are especially well done, because she explains how to make this card in any size.

     The strip of paper above the calendar says "SUNLIGHT HARVEST". Harvest isn't really a summer word, so I decided to cover it. I painted a clothespin with amethyst paint and embellished it with a sticker and some bling. Due to the extra weight of the paper clip and the calendar, the pop up calendar collapsed. I added a  2 x 2.75 piece as support. Score at .5 on the 2 inch side – mountain fold. Use score tape to attach to back of calendar panel 1.25 from top.

     Here is a view of the card from the side, showing the paper and handy stand up helper. The card was not going to fit in an envelope with a paper clip on the top, so I found a spot for it under the calendar, by clipping it there - for shipping purposes only.

     I will be making 16 cards and 4 calendars with this Graphic 45 Seasons Paper. All of these SEASON cards can be made using:

• one sheet of each of the patterned paper 
• one sheet of each of  Prints and Solids

In order to make All Seasons cards and calendars, you only need purchase the following items once:

• Tags and Pockets
• Chip Board
• Ephemera
• Stickers
• Season's Patterns and Solids

Stay tuned for more cards this year.

Spring

Spring Double Gate Card

Spring Shutter Card

Spring Seed Pack Holder 

Spring Center Step Card

Spring Calendar

Summer
Summer Poppy Block Card
Sweet Summer Pocket Card
Summer Pen Nib Butterfly
Summer Embroidery Hoop Easel
Summer Impossible Calendar - You are here!

Autumn
Autumn Joy Fold Plus
Autumn Patchwork and Feathers
Autumn Shaker
Autumn Scarecrow - Go Live October 14
Autumn Calendar

Winter
Winter Birdhouse
Winter Cozy Snow Day
Winter Pop Up Gift Card Holder
Winter Box on Card
Winter Calendar
  

Materials: 

     Patterned Paper: Graphic 45 - Seasons (Summer)

                                                 Summer and Summer Collective

     Card Stock: My Colors: Ecru

                                       Concord Jam

                                       Harvest Orange

     Ink:Distress - Frayed Burlap

     Embellies: 6 clear gems

                     2 small brass brads

                     clothespin

                     amethyst acrylic paint

Challenges

Brown Sugar Challenge - Two Patterned Papers - #67 - Winner!!!

Cat's Pajamas - Summer - #17 - *

Craft Rocket - Summer - #79 - *

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - 331 - #8 - *

Summer Embroidery Hoop Easel

     I love making cards using this Eileen Hull "Embroidery Hoop" Die. It is no longer available, but Waffle Flower and Paper Smooches each have one. 

     I fussy cut the sunflower and the hummingbird separately and pop dotted them. I found the leaves by some peaches on the paper. The butterfly came from a piece of ephemera.

Fussy Cutting

Only one piece of thread

     When I taught the card class for this one, everyone was surprised by the fact that I used one piece of 4 foot embroidery floss for all of this. I started by putting 5 counted cross stitches (not finishing the last one), then wrapping around the HALF spool, going through the button holes 4 - 6 times, and finally whimsically around the screw at the top. I cut the spools in half using a chisel and a hammer. I had to cut 15 of them for 30 students. Every single one of them split right down the middle, without fail. I painted the centers of the spools with amethyst acrylic paint. The button is from the chipboard. 
     The "SUMMER" sentiment is a sticker matted on Concord Jam card stock.  

Inside of Card

     For the inside of the card I used a scalloped circle die to cut an ephemera card. This is only the bottom of the ephemera card. The top half is on the inside of the Pen Nib card. 

Adding a simple helper

     I had to try something different to make the card sit as an easel. There were 2 setbacks. The weight of the hoop and the spool made the card want to collapse. The second thing was the inside of the card was so pretty that I didn't want to mar it by placing an embellishment in the center to hold the front up. I ended up cutting a 2 x 1 1/4 in piece of card stock, which I scored at 1/2, 1, and 1 1/2 - folding it into a "W". By adding this, the card could not collapse. A new problem arose - now the card wouldn't lie flat to place in an envelope. Easy fix - by folding the card backward everything lie flat and went right into an envelope.

From the back

     I will be making 16 cards and 4 calendars with this Graphic 45 Seasons Paper. All of these SEASON cards can be made using:

• one sheet of each of the patterned paper 
• one sheet of each of  Prints and Solids

In order to make All Seasons cards and calendars, you only need purchase the following items once:

• Tags and Pockets
• Chip Board
• Ephemera
• Stickers
• Season's Patterns and Solids

Stay tuned for more cards this year.

Spring

Spring Double Gate Card

Spring Shutter Card

Spring Seed Pack Holder 

Spring Center Step Card

Spring Calendar

Summer

Summer Poppy Block Card

Sweet Summer Pocket Card

Summer Pen Nib Butterfly

Summer Embroidery Hoop Easel - You are here!

Summer Impossible Calendar

Autumn
Autumn Joy Fold Plus
Autumn Patchwork and Feathers
Autumn Shaker
Autumn Scarecrow
Autumn Calendar

Winter
Winter Birdhouse
Winter Cozy Snow Day
Winter Pop Up Gift Card Holder
Winter Box on Card 
Winter Calendar 
  

Materials: 

     Patterned Paper: Graphic 45 - Seasons (Summer)

     Card Stock: My Colors - Ecru

                                      Wildflower

                                      Concord Jam

     Ink: Distress - Frayed Burlap

     Die: Spellbinders - Petite Scalloped Circle Large

           Sizzix - Eileen Hull: Embroidery Hoop 

     Embellies: Embroidery Floss - DMC 470

                   Elizabeth Craft Designs - Starfoam Stickers - Black (eye)

                   Wooden Spool

                   Folk Art - Acrylic Paint - Amethyst

                   Laminated Burlap

Challenges

Creative Inspirations - All Tied Up - #9 - *

Dragonfly Dreams - Summer - #29 - *

Ellibelle's Creative Moments - Summertime is Here - #17 - *

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - 330 - #9 - *

Try it on Tuesday - Things with Wings - #68 - *

Unicorn Challenge Blog - Real Stitching - #15 - Winner!

A Gorjuss Note

     This a-symmetrical card is one I have been looking forward to. Heather Hall designed this fun sketch for the challenge over at the Sketch N Scrap blog.

Sketch #125 by Heather Hall

     The background of this card may appear to be a patterned paper, but instead it is a technique I learned in a Stamp TV video tutorial.  A gauze background stamp with Blue Denim ink is stamped on Powder Blue card stock. I added random star stamps with VersaMark ink. The squiggly border stitch is added with a white gel pen.

     The colors seems to be so perfect together on this card, because they are secretly repeated. The card base is made with Powder Blue card stock - the same is as the gauze patterned is stamped on. The "Just a Note" sentiment is die cut from Blue Denim card stock the same color as the ink I used to stamp the gauze background. 

Materials: 

     Card Stock: Gina K - Blue Denim

                                    Jelly Bean Green

                                    Powder Blue

                                    Ocean Mist

                                    White

     Ink: Momento - Tuxedo Black

            Gina K - Blue Denim

            VersaMark

     Stamps: Santoro - Gorjuss - Flying Above All

                  Gina K - Dashing

                               Background Stamp - Gauze

     Die: Burniston - All Seasons Tree

                                     Word Set 4    

      Marker: Gel Pen - White  

     Copics: E000, 00, 01, 93

                 E31, 33, 35, 37

                 B00, 02, 04

                 YG21, 23

                   C1, 6

Challenges

Bloom and Oh Happy Day

     This is another layout for the Bloom SWAP I participated in last week. I attended the morning session of the swap and all went smoothly - 12 people; 12 layouts. Since I signed up for the evening session as well, I hung out at the craft store until the second session started. Last minute it was determined that the evening swap was going to be one layout short. After this there was a flurry of events.

     The coordinator of the SWAP was in a hurry to complete a layout and kit it with less than an hour until swap time. How do you do a layout in no time flat? You use a sketch. I recommended we grab one from Sketch N Scrap. Three of us were racing around using leftover available paper in the Bloom collection to make this layout. Once designed, we had to quickly make 12 kits. In the end, we completed it well before the swap started. 

     Nobody assumed that it was the coordinators misfortune. It was a privilege to work together as a team to complete the task.

Sketch #156 by Lisa Hidy

Materials List: 

     

     Patterned Paper: Simple Stories - Inspired

                                                      Today's the Day

                                                      Elements

                                                      Ephemera 

                                                      Stickers

                                                      Washi Tape

     Card Stock: My Colors - Black Magic

                       Bazzill - Flamingo

     Dies: Burniston - Ovals (Crosshatch)

     Embellies: Ribbon - Black Organza

                     Paper Clip - Telephone

                     Filmstrip Die Cut

Challenges